Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am not exactly sure what kind of a study Mr. Nitah would like to see undertaken in Lutselk'e. What we would have to do is look at the terms of reference of a proposal for research. We would have to look at the statistics that would indicate that there was a need for that, then we would be in a better position. We would have the information that we need to evaluate the necessity and the priority of such research.

So in answer to his question, if those things were in place and there was evidence that there were outcomes, that there was a serious problem that was occurring...the Member refers to rates of cancer and the increase of incidents. In fact, I think members of the Social Programs committee have been advised of this on numerous occasions. The life expectancy of aboriginal men in the Northwest Territories has increased by ten years in the last decade. I would say that is a fairly good indication -- peoples' life spans are increasing -- that there are improved conditions for Northerners. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Minister. Supplementary, Mr. Nitah.

Thank you. The Member did ask a question there. Can you approve the study? The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Health and Social Services, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will try and remember what the question is. Mr. Speaker, what I am trying to say is that if it can be shown that a study was required to address a specific issue based on...we compile very detailed statistics. For example, on cancer. We have a registry that has won a national award. It is a very good registry on the types of cancer, the age of the people, all these different things. If we see something in there that indicates that we have a serious concern in a specific community...you know, there is a lot of competition right now for the very limited resources that we as a department have.

I was not saying that the Inuvik Regional Health and Social Services Board would have to pay for something like that, but again, we would not go into a region and start undertaking a major environmental health research project without consulting with a regional board such as they have in Inuvik. So we would not necessarily be asking them to find the resources to do something like that, but we would have to have some good data, some good baseline information on which to determine the necessity for such a research project if we were going to fund it. That is just good, prudent management.

Thank you, Madam Minister. Final supplementary, Mr. Nitah.

Thank you, Mr. Nitah. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Health and Social Services, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I do not think we need to conduct a study. We would need to compile some of the statistics which we already have in our possession because of the good record-keeping by the department on statistics about various types of illnesses and cancers and so on.

So I think if the Member would like us to work with our chief medical officer to look at some of those numbers to determine if there is anything unusual going on out there in the regions or in specific communities to do further work and research to try and find out what some of the contributing causes are, that is something that we could do within the department. It would not require a study.

I am sure the Member can appreciate that we cannot just one day decide we are going to undertake a study. Scientific research is something that you would have to have a good plan in hand to undertake. You would have to have a good rationale for the expenditure of the funds prior to embarking on the project. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Great Slave, Mr. Braden.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I had hoped to address a question to the Premier. This was in regard to the statement that he made earlier today on Non-Renewable Resource Development Strategy, but I will ask that question of the Minister Responsible for Transportation.

The news that has been presented today is indeed good news. We do have some signals from Ottawa that they are paying attention. However, the situation is a familiar dilemma. I would note that the contribution put forward by the federal government is far less than even one percent of the $500 million that was earned this summer from oil and gas leases and just over one percent of the total value of our proposed strategy.

My question is, what efforts is the government maintaining, Mr. Speaker, to keep this issue at the front of the burner in Ottawa, especially given that we are in the midst of a national election and a lot of competing agendas? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Braden. The honourable Minister responsible for Transportation, Mr. Steen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I believe that the statement the Member is referring to is the Premier's statement and I would defer the question to the Premier.

The honourable Member should be aware that only the Premier can defer a question to another Minister. This is a bit of a dilemma. The honourable Member did answer, so we go into supplementary, Mr. Braden.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. To clarify some further information about this project, and I also note that it is a partnership and I think that is a very positive trend that we are setting here, could the Minister please confirm that we have $3.7 million in new federal money and we have $2 million in new Government of the Northwest Territories money and that we have $200,000 in new industry money coming into this project? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Braden. The question is still directed to the Minister of Transportation unless the Premier wants to intervene. The honourable Minister responsible for Transportation, Mr. Steen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the overall cost of the bridge program is roughly $7 million. The federal portion of this would be approximately $3.6 or $3.8 million, which would include $200,000 from industry. The rest of the project funding is GNWT funding. I cannot suggest that this is new funding. This is part of the overall bridge plan. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister Steen. Supplementary, Mr. Braden.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Premier's statement made reference to a contribution coming from industry in the value of $200,000 in cash or kind. I would like to seek clarification on which industry is making this contribution. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Braden. The honourable Minister responsible for Transportation, Mr. Steen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the major beneficiaries of the acceleration of the bridge program in the Deh Cho and Mackenzie Valley would be the oil and gas industry. Therefore, we would be looking towards the oil and gas industry to make this contribution. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister Steen. The time for question period has expired. Item 7, written questions. Item 8, returns to written questions. Item 9, replies to opening address. Item 10, petitions. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have two petitions. Mr. Speaker, I would like to present a petition dealing with the matter of water service rates in Fort McPherson. Mr. Speaker, the petition contains 69 signatures from Fort McPherson residents and, Mr. Speaker, the petition requests that the costs of repairs to the present water system not be borne by the residents of the community through the subsequent rate increases and that the responsible GNWT departments resolve this problem.

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Item 9, petitions. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko.